Southern/Southwestern MI fanning....

[ICE_6418]

Hello all...I've been lurking around the board for the past week or so and figured it was my time to register and ask a couple questions....

1.) I've talked with a couple people and I get the idea that shooting an EB train on the ol' PM tracks between Porter and Holland in the morning hours is a long shot...I've always had an intrest in this line and want to actaully act on it now....

2.) Is there much freight between Porter and K-Zoo on the MC? I've heard most of it would turn south at K-Zoo and head towards Elkhart....

3.) From Battle Creek west towards Valpo and such would anyone care to help me out with a decent time to be on the GTW? I figure as with any railroad they run trains when they'd like to...its just that I have class most nights in Chicago at 530pm and would like to see if taking a drive out this way in the morning would be worth the $20-30....

4.) Is there still a shortline in Paw Paw, MI?

Thanks for the help guys!

-Ian

[cnw8835]

I can help more later, but for now, this trip report can help with question 4
http://www.railroadfan.com/phpbb/viewto ... f=6&t=4808

[conrailmike]

Welcome to the boards Ian

[AARR]

2.) Is there much freight between Porter and K-Zoo on the MC? I've heard most of it would turn south at K-Zoo and head towards Elkhart....

4.) Is there still a shortline in Paw Paw, MI?

2. There's only a local that operates between Kalamazoo and Niles Tuesday and Thursday. Then there's a local out of Michigan City that operates as far as Buchanan as necessary. Probably doesn't leave MI City very often. No through freights between Kalamazoo and Porter.

4. The short line operator very very rarely leaves Hartford. Maybe several times a year at the most.

[ICE_6418]

Thanks for the replys so far guys....

The reason I was asking about the NS ops on the Amtrak mainline is becaseu back in late 2005 or 2006 I remember being at Porter with a couple of friends and seeing an eastbound NS local come through town on the MC...thought that was VERY strange....

[AARR]

I remember being at Porter with a couple of friends and seeing an eastbound NS local come through town on the MC...thought that was VERY strange....

It's possible the local between Porter and Buchanan indeed starts out west of Porter Jct.

[GP30M4216]

Yes, i believe that MC west local (Michigan City & Buchanan) operates EAST from the NS yard at Burns Harbor, IN, which would require going through Porter.

1. If you click over to the Heads Up board and then click on any of the CSX MQT threads, it'll give you a feel for what runs on the Grand Rapids Subdivision. CSX only runs two freights a day regularly (though for a while there was a second eastbound, S326), plus Amtrak each way. Coal has been running regularly too, (BNSF power). CSX local D700 runs south of Holland 3 nights per week but usually during darkness. Otherwise, a hit or miss stone train might be all you'll hope to see.

2. This has already been covered pretty well. B-1-G is the freight that runs west from Kalamazoo on the MC and it does so at night now. Kalamazoo DOES have a lot of action (well... "a lot" is subject to comparison) but you have 4 NS road freights, several locals, a CN local, and 8 daily Amtraks. All the big NS freights do go south at Kzoo to Elkhart yard.

3. It's hit or miss here on the CN, but I recommend tou try someplace like Schoolcraft or Marcellus, where the line goes from single track to doubletrack. A mile or two east of Schoolcraft is very scenic - flat prairie. They often try to arrange meets near here between westbounds and eastbounds. I sat once just east of Schoolcraft from about 8:30AM to 3:30PM and saw 6 or 7 trains. There can be long stretchs of downtime, but when the trains come through, they are always interesting.

4. As Don said, the West Michigan going farther east than Hartford it rare. CSX does the interchange at Hartford with them with their D700 local, 3 days a week, as described above.

Hope this helps!

[elliot98SS]

There is track in Paw Paw, that is about it. I think you have to go to Heartford to see trains on that line, nothing operates into Paw Paw or east. There is a cool turn out in Paw Paw with a frog that is bolted on. Old signals, old trackage and old rolling stock have interested me more recently. And if you go to Paw Paw you can go visit Fred at All About Hobbies. The back parking lot to his store faces the old right of way.


The only class 1 I will rail fan is the CN. I live 4 miles from Pavilion. Traffic is down but any week day in the AM hours is good, like what everyone else said. I have become more particular where I watch trains with all the rumors I hear about photographers being harassed. I just switch back across the trains from Schoolcraft to Climax, I typically stay in my truck.

[ICE_6418]

Thanks for all the help guys...I've wondered about this stuff for a while and thanks to fellow friend/member Beal99 I finally had a place to ask....

Also in case no one already knew apparently the South Shore freight service operates or the MC in Michigan City, IN and serves some of the industries in town...never knew they did that....

[tsinoms]

I saw that on flickr... wheres the connection track though? Also i though NS serviced it once in a while....
Also along the GR line a couple places you might wanna try are St. Joseph, New Buffalo, New Richmond, East Saugatuck, and of course Holland.

[ICE_6418]

Connection pictured here....
<http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Mic ... 7&t=h&z=19>

There is a small yard on the outside of the fence for the NIPSCO plant...if you keep following that track north and then east to the Amtrak station the CSS track connects to the MC (shown on the map above)...its a switch with a derail....